Most journalism on nutrition is woeful.  It is either some trite rehash of the hypothesis that obesity is a result of sloth and gluttony (eg: “Put down the burger Fatty, and go for a run“), or some breathless expose of the magical Fad diet du jour (eg: “Eating only things that are purple gives you washboard abs“).

The truth is that any diet will help you lose weight if it helps you restrict Calories.  But spending some time hungry, is like spending some time shorter by keeping your knees bent – short term anyone can do that, but long term no one can keep doing it.  This is why Lo-Carb living is different, because restricting Carbohydrates allows your appestat to function normally – hungry when you need Calories and not-hungry when you have excess in storage.

The New York Times is an exception to the bad Nutrition journalism rule.  This article I just stumbled over on research into “ad libitum” diets is a great example.

A Call for a Low-Carb Diet that Embraces Fat

“It shows that in a free-living setting, cutting your carbs helps you lose weight without focusing on calories. And that’s really important because someone can change what they eat more easily than trying to cut down on their calories.”